nature. If the testimony of the complainant meets the test of credibility, the accused may be convicted on the basis thereof.131 It is settled that the evaluation by the trial court of the credibility of witnesses and their testimonies are entitled to the highest respect. This is in view of its inimitable opportunity to directly observe the witnesses and their deportment, conduct and attitude, especially during cross-examination. Thus, unless it is shown that its evaluation was tainted with arbitrariness or certain facts of substance and value have been plainly overlooked, misunderstood, or misapplied, the same will not be disturbed on appeal.132 After approximating the perspective of the trial court thru a meticulous scrutiny of the entire records of the trial proceedings and the transcript of each witnesses' testimony, the Court found no justification to disturb its findings. Rather, the Court observed that KKK and her testimony were both credible and spontaneous. Hailed to the witness stand on six separate occasions, KKK never wavered neither did her statements vacillate between uncertainty and certitude. She remained consistent, categorical, straightforward, and candid during the rigorous cross-examination and on rebuttal examination, she was able to convincingly explain and debunk the allegations of the defense. She vividly recounted how the accused-appellant forced her to have sex with him despite her refusal on October 16, 1998. He initially ordered her to sleep beside him in their conjugal bed by violently throwing the cot where she was resting. In order not to aggravate his temper, KKK obeyed. On the bed, he insinuated for them to have sex. When she rejected his advances due to abdominal pain and headache, his request for intimacy transformed into a stubborn demand. Unyielding, KKK held her panties but the accused-appellant forcibly pulled them down. The tug caused the small clothing to tear apart. She reiterated that she was not feeling well and begged him to stop. But no amount of resistance or begging subdued him. He flexed her two legs apart, gripped her hands, mounted her, rested his own legs on hers and inserted his penis into her vagina. She continued pleading but he never desisted.133 Her accurate recollection of the second rape incident on October 1 7, 1998 is likewise unmistakable. After the appalling episode in the conjugal bedroom the previous night, KKK decided to sleep in the children's bedroom. While her daughters were fixing the beddings, the accused-appellant barged into the room and berated her for refusing to go with him to their conjugal bedroom. When KKK insisted to stay in the children's bedroom, the accused-appellant got angry and pulled her up. MMM's attempt to pacify the accused-appellant further enraged him. He reminded them that as the head of the family he could do whatever he wants with his wife. To demonstrate his role as patriarch, he ordered the children to go out of the room and thereafter proceeded to force KKK into sexual intercourse. He forcibly pulled down her short pants and panties as KKK begged "Dont do that to me, my body is still aching and also my abdomen and I cannot do what you wanted me to do. I cannot withstand sex."134 But her pleas fell on deaf ears. The accused-appellant removed his shorts and briefs, spread KKK's legs apart, held her hands, mounted her and inserted his penis into her vagina. After gratifying himself, he got dressed, left the room as he chuckled: "Its nice, that is what you deserve because you are [a] flirt or fond of sex."135 Entrenched is the rule that in the prosecution of rape cases, the essential element that must be proved is the absence of the victim's consent to the sexual congress.136 Under the law, consent is absent when: (a) it was wrestled from the victim by force, threat or intimidation, fraudulent machinations or grave abuse of authority; or (b) the victim is incapable of